The broad accessibility of online sexually explicit material (SEM) exposes viewers to a wide scope of sexual behaviors. Social concern tends to be heightened over SEM that incorporates highly graphic, "rough" sex. This study assessed the associations among exposure to rough sex in SEM, desire for rough sex, and participation in rough sex while accounting for gender, sexual orientation, and perceived realism of SEM. Young adults (N = 327; ages 19-30; 50.8% men) were recruited through a crowdsourcing website. They completed an anonymous online survey that assessed viewing frequency for a range of sexual behaviors in SEM, the perceived realism of SEM, desire to participate in the behaviors viewed, and if they had ever participated in those behaviors. Hair pulling, spanking, scratching, biting, bondage, fisting, and double penetration were used to create the variable of rough sex. Rough sex desire and participation were common among individuals who have been exposed to rough sex in SEM, with 91.4% desiring to engage in 1 + behaviors at least to a small degree and 81.7% having engaged in 1 + behaviors. Exposure to rough sex in SEM was positively associated with desire for and participation in rough sex, emphasizing the need to ensure that individuals can distinguish between consensual rough sex and sexual violence. This study did not parse out causal effects or directionality, but did provide some insights into the interrelatedness of viewing, desiring, and participating in rough sex.
Adolescents acquire important intimacy and communication skills in their relationships that contribute to relationship longevity. Yet we know relatively little about which factors help relationships endure. Objective: This study tracked adolescent women’s ( N = 387; 14–17 years) relationships from onset to dissolution to assess factors that contribute to relationship length. Prior relationship experience, relationship characteristics, and current relationship behaviors were assessed as contributors. Method: A sample of 387 female adolescents (89% African American) were recruited from three primary care adolescent health clinics serving lower- to middle-income families in a large Midwestern city. All were interviewed every 3 months about ongoing relationships. The main outcome measure was time to dissolution. Results: The average relationship lasted 5.87 months ( SD = 11.76). Greater numbers and more time spent in prior relationships were associated with longer duration of the current relationship. Being older, having more status changes during the relationship (promotions and demotions), and reporting greater relationship quality, sexual communication, and sexual autonomy were associated with significantly longer time to breakup. Conclusions: Research to date has not tracked specific relationship timelines. In line with a developmental tasks perspective, this study provides new insights into the value of adolescent women’s past relationship experiences, measures of aging and accrued experience, as well as current relationship characteristics and behaviors to the development of relationship maintenance skills. These findings have educational and clinical implications as they inform programming initiatives designed to help young people establish healthy, consensual intimate relationships.
Intimate kissing is often viewed as a preliminary or ancillary behaviour in studies exploring sexual interactions. There is a lack of research that focuses on differentiating the types of intimate kisses, including the contexts in which they occur, and desirable and undesirable features. The current study was designed to assess memories of first, best, forbidden and worst kisses. Participants were 691 U.S. adults (mean age 32.27 years; 55% identified as male) who completed an online survey addressing kissing attitudes and experiences using both structured and open-ended survey tools. Four themes emerged through content analysis: physical components, connection to the partner, context, and emotions evoked; and these are discussed for all four types of kissing memories. Findings are discussed in terms of embodiment that intimate kisses capture, their role as a metric of one's attraction to a partner, and the means by which kissing experiences might solidify a sense of oneself as a sexual person.
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